Yasir Qadhi

Shaykh Yasir Qadhi delves into the Tafsir of Surah Al Ikhlas which deals with the perfection of Allah and defends the Honour of Allah. The Prophet ﷺ would begin and end his day with Surah Al Ikhlas and hence, it is the most perfect Sunnah to abide by. Key aspects of this magnificent Surah: Allah is unique and no one is like Him. Allah is As Samad - He is the One who is Perfect in Himself and also it means the One to whom every creation must turn to. Allah is unique in the way that He has no children nor did anyone give birth to Him. Allah has nothing equal or similar to Him. A brief lecture is given on Prophet Isa AS and what is his stature in Islam and how we are different in our beliefs as opposed to other religions. He is the only one who spoke as if he is giving a sermon from the cradle itself. He performed miracles the likes of which no one ever performed. His birth was miraculous as he had no father and even then, his mother Maryam AS was not humiliated or asked about this birth. He was raised by Allah after a failed assassination attemptat the hands of the Jews.  He was not killed or crucified contrary to Christian belief.

Shaykh Dr. Yasir Qadhi delves into numerous magnificent Quranic verses and Hadith of the Prophet ﷺ pertaining to the stark, temporary reality of this world as opposed to the permanence of the Hereafter.  "And the life to come: that is the real life, if they but knew!"  This verse of the Qur'an forever reminds us of the world being a place of delusion, enticement,persuasion and temptation enamoring us by the foolishness of indulging in materialism. Yet our weak Iman fails to ignite the true worry for the Hereafter and part with the  transience of this world and how we should be in the pursuit for its preparation. As is also narrated in a Hadith reported by Abu Huraira RA, the Prophet ﷺ said, “Wretched is the slave of gold, silver, fine clothes, and garments. If he is given he is pleased, but if he is not given he is displeased.”

Shaykh Yasir Qadhi discusses the inevitable reality of death and how we should prepare for it. Death is a necessary part of our life and we cannot deny it no matter how much we are averse to talking about it. Death is as much a reality as is your life. Of the mysteries of death is the timing of our death and no one can change the timing of death and the location is also kept a secret even from the angel of death. The first sign of death is the Sakaratul Maut or the pangs of death. They are the precursor to the arrival of the angel of death. The death of the righteous is different from that of a Fasiq. The entourage that greets these two types of Muslims is very different. The righteous sees angels of mercy that will be calming him down and reassuring him of care for his family in the world. Angels Munkar or Nakeer will come to you in your grave and ask the following questions: Who is your Lord and what is your religion? Who is Muhammad ﷺ? How did you live your life? What happens to a disbeliever? What do the angels of punishment do to him? Shaykh Yasir Qadhi explains explicitly on the torture that he will be faced with. Listen intently to save ourselves from it when there is the time. Our Prophet ﷺ said, 'Frequently remember the destroyer of pleasures' implying death.

Shaykh Yasir Qadhi discusses at length the origin of Salah and its profound necessity in our lives. Every single pillar of Islam was ordained by Allah through Jibreel AS to the Prophet ﷺ. But only for Salah, Allah communicated directly with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in His Divinity. Such is the stature of Salah. While Prophet Ibrahim and Ismail AS are building the Ka’bah, Ibrahim AS says, “O my Rabb make ME amongst those who establish the Salah, me and my children, Our Lord, and accept my supplication.” Surah Ibrahim The very first commandment that Allah gave to Prophet Musa AS, He said, “I am Allah, there is no deity worthy of worship except Me so worship Me and establish the Salah to remember Me. ” Surah Taha The infant Prophet Isa AS said, “I am a servant of Allah, Allah has granted me the wisdom and given me the book, and He has made me a Prophet, and He has made me Blessed wheresoever I may be and He has commanded that I pray and give charity as long as I live.”- Surah Maryam The  Prophet Muhammad’s ﷺ Seerah is sufficient enough to highlight the prominence of Salah. The Night of Isra Wal Miraj gave us the blessing of 5 times Salah in a day. Shaykh Yasir Qadhi hence, implores us to establish prayer and get rid of all the invalid excuses we make to not obey this most important command of Allah. We will be questioned about Salah before anything else on the Day of Judgement. “The Prayer Prohibits you from vulgarities, obscenities and other sins.” [Surah Ankabut] The last words of the Prophet ﷺ on his deathbed are, “As-salaah, as-salaah! Wat-taqullah fee ma malakat aymanukum.” Hence, his only request to the Muslim Ummah even during his final moments was only and only to establish prayer sincerely and never lose track of it.

Shaykh Dr. Yasir Qadhi explicitly elaborates on the importance of having good manners in Islam. What constitutes good manners? Some of them are listed below. Our Prophet ﷺ said, "Verily, I have only been sent to perfect good manners." Whenever someone came to the Prophet ﷺ for advice, it always was more often than not related to perfection of good manners. People can be never given a better blessing from Allah than good manners. It is the best treasure one can have. The Prophet ﷺ said that a righteous Muslim can achieve the level of an elite Muslim who is firm in fasting and praying by simply having good manners. Our Prophet ﷺ said that having good manners is a sign of Iman. Allah loves good manners and He hates debased manners. Good manners are the weightiest and heaviest things on the Meezan on the Day of Judgement apart from Iman and Taqwa. Our Akhlaq will dictate our closeness with the Prophet ﷺ on the Day of Judgement as is mentioned in a Hadith.

Shaykh Yasir Qadhi delves into the topic of family and children in this important lecture. Children are one of the greatest blessing from Allah but with every blessing comes responsibility.How do we take charge of status of the relationship between ourselves and our children? How do we raise our children in the most impeccable manner so that they too make the best of families? Taking care of children transcends religion. For instance, when our Prophet ﷺ was engaged in Salah in the most humble position of sujood, his grandchild Hassan RA jumped onto his back and our Prophet ﷺ lengthened his sujood so that Hassan RA would not fall off and get hurt. Our Prophet ﷺ loved children and he would often show his love by kissing his grandchildren Hassan RA and Hussain RA and playing with them. Why do we coerce our parents into praying Salah at its stipulated times with utmost authority? The reason is a very selfish one and Shaykh Yasir explains that it is because we make our children understand that there is an authority that is above parents too and that is Allah SWT.

Shaykh Yasir Qadhi discusses in this Khutbah a short tafseer of Surah Ash-Sharh. Allah’s love for His worshippers is shown by putting them through trials and tribulations in this world. We are reminded of the things Allah has bestowed upon us which include innumerable blessings. Hence, it is binding upon us to be thankful for them and always look at life with a positive outlook and have a productive life. Each blessing bestowed upon our Prophet ﷺ is also a blessing for us. Never does Allah send down something difficult that simultaneously He sends down the ease too. With every difficulty that is sent, comes two ease. It is also essential to remember that if we assign our ultimate goal to solely be the pleasure of Allah, then the problems of this dunya will sound so trivial and most of the time cease to exist. He who has Allah has everything. We are the owners of the treasure that has been handed out to us being Muslims.

Shaykh Yasir Qadhi delivers a beautiful lecture with regards to Surah Al Qalam and we get acquainted with the different aspects of the positive uses of wealth by analyzing the story of the Companions of the Garden in the Surah. The Surah bears testimony and highlights the magnanimity of the Prophet ﷺ as opposed to the misguided who reject him and his guidance.  The story being discussed here is that of a family from Yemen who inherited their father's wealth but did not inherit his character. It bears numerous lessons for the Muslim believer in every phase of his life. Some of them can be summarised as below: The blessedness of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ - his noble character and emphasis is laid on it. The evil behaviour and the devious and treacherous ways of the non believers is brought to the fore. A mention of the people of Paradise as opposed to the evil polytheists. The Day of Resurrection and the disbelievers torments and punishments that will be meted out to him. A word of comfort to the Noble Prophet ﷺ to persevere and exercise patience against the evil men. The glory of the Noble Qur’an.

Shaykh Yasir Qadhi dedicates this lecture to an oft-neglected topic of how does one’s heart harden over time and how to cure the diseases of the heart and make them soft, pure, calm and peaceful. "The day that neither wealth nor sons will be of any benefit except for he who comes to Allah with a pure heart." [The Noble Qur'an, 26:88-89] Strong Iman is reflective of a pure heart and weak Iman reflects a hard heart.one should perform a reality check on how prepared and ready we are to enter Jannah, given the condition of our heart. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said, "Verily, Allah does not look at your appearance or wealth, but rather He looks at your hearts and your deeds."  It is incumbent upon us to cleanse our hearts of the inherent evil which we feed it in order to relish the sweetness and purity of true faith and submission to our Almighty SWT.

Shaykh Yasir Qadhi explicitly elaborates on the blessings and etiquettes of Khutbah and the day of Jumu'ah. Blessings of Jumu'ah: Jumu'ah is the leader of all the days of the week. It is our day of the Eid. Jumu'ah sees new beginnings such as the creation of Adam, Adam is sent to Jannah and much more. The only day mentioned in the Qur'an is Jumu'ah. It is a blessed day even in the HereAfter. Many blessings in Jannah on Jumu'ah are seen - Souq Al Jannah. Etiquettes of Jummah: Salat ul Jumu'ah with the Khutbah It is Wajib to attend. It is not allowed to run businesses during Jumu'ah. Jumu'ah makes it obligatory to take a bath,wear our best dresses and look our best. It is preferred to walk to the Masjid for Jumu'ah. It is forbidden to talk during Khutbah.